Combination irrigation drop and dam



March 15, 1960' D MWARIN 2,928,251

COMBINATION IRRIGATION DROP AND DAM Filed April 13, 1956 INVENTOR.DAN/EL M WAR/N6 COMBINATION IRRIGATION DROP AND DAM fia'niel Mii'waringBloomington, Nebr. Application April 13, 1956, Serial 5 78,08 1

' 1 Claim. titer-491' 1 This invention-relates to a dam andspillway rorfan irrigation ditch, the purpose of which is to adjust the" levelofithewaterin the upper level of; the irrigating lateral toa desiredelevation.

Summarized briefly, the invention includes a "dam adapted for insertionin position across an irrigation ditch at any desired location in theditch. Projecting forwardly from and rigid with the dam is a trough, thepurpose of 1 2,928,251 Patented Mar. 15,1960

'. thereof, is ,arectangular, upwardly opening recess 18,

which is -to keep the churning water below the s'pillway from cuttinginto or washing away the sides and bottom of the lateral. A bafileadjacent the outer end of the trough is provided, which assists instopping the swirling motion of the water as it flows off the end of thetrough, Y

which has the effect of shortening the depth of the recess,

thus to elfect an adjustment in the upper level of the lateral.

Among important objects of the invention are to provide a combinationdrop and dam that will be easy to install, and will be equally easy toremove whenever desired.

Another ObjECtilS tO provide a device as stated which can be used in thelateral in place of a canvas dam such as is presently used.

Another object is to provide a dam which, in the event of floods orchanges in the ground contour, can be moved to another location {withmaximum speed and ease, as distinguished, forjexample, from a permanentconcrete structure which in these circumstances would be totally lost.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claimsappended thereto and from the annexed drawings in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views andwherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a combination drop and dam formed"according to the present invention, an insert being shown: removed fromits associated retainer;

Figure 2 is an-endelevational view of the device, on a through which thewater W in the upper level of-the lateral. is adapted to'fiow as shownin Figure 3. Rigidly secured'ztoone face of plate 10 is a U-shapedretainer 20, haying a horizontal bightv portion extending along thebottom edges of recess 18 and having, in addition, vertical legs of-sideportions 22 terminating at their upper ends at the upper edge of the dammember and extending along opposite sides of the recess.

As seen-in Figure 2 of the drawing, the dam member- 10 -is ofsubstantially trapezoidal configuration, having amajor and a minor sideportion. The major side portion is considered as comprising that portionof the area ofthe dam; member that lies above a horizontal planecoincident with the bottom, horizontal edge of the'opening,;j inFigure2, whilethe minorrside portion comprises aportion of the area lyingbelow said plane.

The retainer is formed of angle iron material throughout thelength.Therefore, the side portions provide confronting, vertical guideways 24,merging at their lower" ends into a horizontal seat 25 of U-shaped crosssection defined by the bight portion 20in cooperation with plate member10. Removably insertable in the retainer is a horizontally disposedinsert 26, which can be formed of a a length of 2 x 2 or 2 x 4 woodmaterial. The insert is of a. length coextensive with the distancebetween the webs of the side portions 22, and accordingly, the insertcan be dropped into the retainer, with its ends sliding downwardlywithin the guideways 24 until ultimately it comes to rest in the seat25.

In this position, the insert will project above the bottom edge ofrecess 18, and as a result will cause the level of the water above thedam to remain in the level of the top surface of the insert.

Rigidly secured at its inner end to member 10, immediately below theretainer, is an elongated, horizontally extending trough 28 of arcuatecross section (see Figure 2). This extends along the bottom of thelateral as shown in Figure 3, when the bottom edge portion of the member10 is pressed into said bottom.

Adjacent the outer end of trough 28 there is formed therein a transverseslot 30, and a battle formed as an i elongated, narrow, rectangularplate 32 is adapted to slightly enlarged scale, as seen from the rightof Figure 1; 5 Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through thedevice in place in a ditch, with the insert in the retainer, on line 3-3of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a modified form.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the device includes a dam member 10in the form of a flat, vertical plate extendable fully across a ditch orlateral, and having a horizontally extending top edge to which issecured, for reinforcing purposes, a brace bar 12 of angle ironmaterial;

The side edges 14 of the plate diverge upwardly from a horizontal bottomedge 16, to conform to the cross sectional contour of the lateral.

Formed in the plate, medially between opposite sides engage in the slotfor the purpose of aiding in stopping theswirling motion of the water asthe water flows olf the end of the trough. The bafile is inserted in theslot from below the trough, so that the greatest portion of the baffieis disposed exteriorly of the trough as shown in Figure 2. Theexteriorly disposed portion, accordingly, is adapted to embed itself inthe bottom, thus to stabilize the installation.

In use of the device, the upper level of the water in the lateral willrise to the level A. The excess will spill into the trough, and due tothe bafile will rise to a level B which is substantially below the levelA. Due to the provision of the baffieQ-swirling motion of the water inthe trough will be reduced to a minimum, and the excess will spill overthe baflle to flow at a level C within the lateral.

Obviously, inserts 26 of different heights can be selectively employed,or alternatively, the insert can be removed completely to drop the levelA to its maximum extent. The entire device with the exception of theinsert and retainer can be made of sheet material, and conventionalangle iron material may be employed for the brace bar 12 and retainer20. The trough may be crimped or lowered as necessary to stiffen thesame, and it will be understood that to prevent corrosion, the entiredevice may be covered with a protective coating such as asphalt or tar.Alternatively, the material may be gal vanized to prevent rusting.

1 I :a szs gsr In Figure 4 -there is shown a modified construction fromthe .dam member; and a batfie removably engaged wherein the trough 28ais separably connected. to side. portions 22a of a retainer 20a by meansof laterally, outwardly projecting pins 34 on the side portions 22a en-.

gaged in openings 36 formed in the'sides of'the trough' Ah'oo'kfis onthe dam member 10a"is:engageahle inan opening 40 formed'in themidwiclthportion'of-the trough.

The device, as will be apparent, can be readily installed or removed,and furthencan bemanufactured' at a minimum cost. Still further,adjustments in-=.t-he upper level can be swiftly effected by the meansdescribed.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not -necessarily confinedto the specific use or uses-thereof 'd'e scribed above since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it maybe suited. Nor is the-invention-to be' necessarily' limitcd to the specific constructionillustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended to -be illustrativeof the principlesit being considered that the invention comprehendsany-minor changes in.

construction that may be permitted Within the scope 'of; I

the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In an'irrigation dam, a dam member adapted to extend transversely of avditch in a vertical planejan elongated trough member connected at oneend to and extending outwardly from the dam member; said trough memberhhaving a transverse slot adjacent the end thereof remote to eliminate aswirling motion of the water within the "trough member, said bafiiehaving a portion thereofdisposed interiorly of the trough member and theremaining portion disposed exterior 1y of the trough member forlembedding in the bottom ofthe ditch.

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